USA Today's Top 150 Best Seller List Features Naruto at #29
Placement is the highest sales placement ever achieved by a manga title
in North America
San Francisco, CA, March 7, 2006 – Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), one of
the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive manga
and animation licensing and publishing companies, has announced that
the recently released volume 9 of the popular Naruto manga series,
which is published under the company's SHONEN JUMP imprint, placed at
Number 29 on USA Today's Top 150 Best Seller List for the week of
February 26, 2006. This is the highest placement any manga title has
ever achieved on the daily's noted literary sales list, which compiles
sales traction for fiction, non-fiction, hardcover as well as paperback
titles.
The impressive sales of the newest NARUTO volume places it amongst a
diverse array of top fiction and non-fiction titles like Memoirs Of A
Geisha, The Da Vinci Code and The Kite Runner. Two other Viz Media
manga titles also published under the SHONEN JUMP imprint – RUROUNI
KENSHIN volume 24 and DEATH NOTE volume 4 – placed at Number 116 and
118 respectively for the same week.
NARUTO has become one of Viz Media's most successful manga properties
in terms of sales. The series, by Masashi Kishimoto, depicts the
adventures of a young boy who trains to become a ninja and has sold
more than 59 million copies in Japan since its 1999 debut. In North
America, a groundswell of fan interest in the brand continues to build.
In addition to the manga series, the NARUTO anime counterpart is a
ratings powerhouse on Cartoon Network, where it is featured as part of
the network's Toonami block of action programming. Viz Media is set to
release the highly anticipated first volume of the anime series on DVD
on March 28.
“We are extremely gratified to see the latest volume of NARUTO place so
high on USA Today's Top 150 Sales List and it's quite an achievement
for a manga title to be in such strong company with books like Memoirs
Of A Geisha and The Da Vinci Code,” states Liza Coppola, senior vice
president, marketing, Viz Media “The steadily increasing sales
traction of several of our manga series offered by the SHONEN JUMP
imprint validates the unique quality and storylines these titles offer
to readers of all ages and interests. NARUTO is a compelling action
story that instills a variety of positive messages and as we prepare to
release the first volume of the NARUTO anime series on DVD, we feel
confident that it will be a hit.”
About Viz Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), is one
of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of
manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese
content. Owned by three of Japan's largest creators and licensors of
manga and animation, Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., and Shogakukan
Production Co., Ltd. (Sho-Pro Japan), Viz Media is a leader in the
publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking
audiences in North America and a global licensor of Japanese manga and
animation. The company offers an integrated product line including,
magazines such as SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT, graphic novels, videos,
DVDs, audio soundtracks and develops and markets animated entertainment
from initial production, television placement and distribution, to
merchandise licensing and promotions for audiences and consumers of all
ages.
in North America
San Francisco, CA, March 7, 2006 – Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), one of
the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive manga
and animation licensing and publishing companies, has announced that
the recently released volume 9 of the popular Naruto manga series,
which is published under the company's SHONEN JUMP imprint, placed at
Number 29 on USA Today's Top 150 Best Seller List for the week of
February 26, 2006. This is the highest placement any manga title has
ever achieved on the daily's noted literary sales list, which compiles
sales traction for fiction, non-fiction, hardcover as well as paperback
titles.
The impressive sales of the newest NARUTO volume places it amongst a
diverse array of top fiction and non-fiction titles like Memoirs Of A
Geisha, The Da Vinci Code and The Kite Runner. Two other Viz Media
manga titles also published under the SHONEN JUMP imprint – RUROUNI
KENSHIN volume 24 and DEATH NOTE volume 4 – placed at Number 116 and
118 respectively for the same week.
NARUTO has become one of Viz Media's most successful manga properties
in terms of sales. The series, by Masashi Kishimoto, depicts the
adventures of a young boy who trains to become a ninja and has sold
more than 59 million copies in Japan since its 1999 debut. In North
America, a groundswell of fan interest in the brand continues to build.
In addition to the manga series, the NARUTO anime counterpart is a
ratings powerhouse on Cartoon Network, where it is featured as part of
the network's Toonami block of action programming. Viz Media is set to
release the highly anticipated first volume of the anime series on DVD
on March 28.
“We are extremely gratified to see the latest volume of NARUTO place so
high on USA Today's Top 150 Sales List and it's quite an achievement
for a manga title to be in such strong company with books like Memoirs
Of A Geisha and The Da Vinci Code,” states Liza Coppola, senior vice
president, marketing, Viz Media “The steadily increasing sales
traction of several of our manga series offered by the SHONEN JUMP
imprint validates the unique quality and storylines these titles offer
to readers of all ages and interests. NARUTO is a compelling action
story that instills a variety of positive messages and as we prepare to
release the first volume of the NARUTO anime series on DVD, we feel
confident that it will be a hit.”
About Viz Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), is one
of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of
manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese
content. Owned by three of Japan's largest creators and licensors of
manga and animation, Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., and Shogakukan
Production Co., Ltd. (Sho-Pro Japan), Viz Media is a leader in the
publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking
audiences in North America and a global licensor of Japanese manga and
animation. The company offers an integrated product line including,
magazines such as SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT, graphic novels, videos,
DVDs, audio soundtracks and develops and markets animated entertainment
from initial production, television placement and distribution, to
merchandise licensing and promotions for audiences and consumers of all
ages.
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